Jewish Journal ran a a great profile piece on spinal surgeon and philanthropist Dr. Gary Michelson.In December B'nai B'rith International bestowed the Distinguished Achievement Award on Michelson, an award that recognizes exceptional individuals and honors them for their community service, dedicated leadership and commitment to improving the lives of the individuals they serve.

When Dr. Gary K. Michelson was 7, he was sitting at the Formica table in his grandmother’s kitchen in Philadelphia when he smelled the odor of burning flesh. “She was at the stove, and I turned around, and she was just leaning her hand on a burner, and I could see flames coming up through her fingers,” Michelson recalled of his grandmother. “I screamed, and then she doused out her hand in the sink. And she said, ‘That’s nothing; I do that all the time.’ ”

For decades, Michelson’s grandmother had suffered from syringomyelia, a spinal disease that causes wracking back pain and also pain and insensitivity to temperature in the hands and feet. She simply could not feel the flames licking at her fingers.

Michelson’s grandmother had already visited top syringomyelia experts at the time; her physician had advised her husband that there was nothing to do for her except buy her a wheelchair. Through sheer determination, she continued to walk, even though her back was so crooked she couldn’t stand up straight. “One day,” she told her grandson, “you’ll become a doctor, and you’ll fix me.”

Sitting in his airy Brentwood home, Michelson tells the story as if the distant memory is still raw. At 67, he is now a retired orthopedic surgeon, prolific medical inventor and a groundbreaking, renowned philanthropist — shaped by what he calls the “nightmare” of his grandmother’s suffering.

After he left home at 17, Michelson did just what his grandmother said, working odd jobs to put himself through Hahnemann Medical College (now Drexel University), from which he earned his medical degree in 1975. In 1980, he moved west to set up a practice in Los Angeles. There, he developed and patented more than 900 medical procedures and devices that have revolutionized spinal surgery.

In 2004, Michelson prevailed in a licensing lawsuit brought against him by the medical technology megacorporation Medtronic. After the company’s unsuccessful attempt to take the rights to Michelson’s medical inventions, he received a settlement of $1.35 billion, including for the purchase of a majority of the patents related to spinal technology, he said. The money made him one of the richest people in the United States, according to Forbes, and effectively launched his philanthropic career.

In his giving, Michelson continues to focus on medical research, but his reach now extends far beyond orthopedics.In 2005, he created the Michelson Medical Research Foundation, to which he’s contributed $100 million. The goal, in part, is to develop a vaccine that will cure the estimated 1.4 billion people worldwide who suffer from debilitating parasitic worms.

His 20 Million Minds Foundation seeks to make higher education more effective and inexpensive, including by placing textbooks online for college students who cannot afford them, along with interactive content.

Michelson’s Found Animals Foundation, which runs a website promoting pet adoption and advice on microchips, among other things, is offering $50 million in grant research funds as well as a $25 million prize to scientists who can discover a way to chemically spay and neuter animals with a single, low-cost injection.

And, in 2014, Michelson and his wife, Alya, donated $50 million to the University of Southern California toward the creation of a convergent bioscience center in hopes of producing medical breakthroughs. “We’re going to cure cancer; we’re going to cure heart disease,” he said, ebulliently. “There’s stuff going on there right now that’s going to change the world.”

The center already has achieved a major breakthrough enabling scientists to refine and improve the effectiveness of a tool that can remove any gene in the body and replace it with another.

It’s hardly science for science’s sake. “I have been talking to people for a long time about what I consider the major defect in academic science, which I call heads-down research,” Michelson said. “I [know someone] who’s absolutely brilliant, but he put his face to a microscope 50 years ago, and then when he was old, he stood up and went his own way. How did the world benefit from that? They tell you it’s science for science’s sake, and they’re proud of it. But you’re not helping anybody; nothing’s happening. I almost used an expletive about that. Do something that will help people now, and build on that.”

USC President C.L. Max Nikias said Michelson’s $50 million grant is one of the larger gifts the university has received. “This is a brilliant, brilliant individual who truly believes in making a difference,” Nikias said in a telephone interview. “He really cares about the human condition.”

In conversation, the tall, imposing Michelson is bold, no-nonsense and a natural raconteur, peppering his discourse with references to sources as diverse as George Bernard Shaw, William Somerset Maugham and even “Star Trek.” He sat on a couch in his den with his 10-year-old white whippet, Gracie, cuddled up beside him.“I rescued her out of this woman’s chicken-wire coop,” he said. Michelson’s other dog, a pit bull named Honey, was discovered bleeding and left to die in the street, with her side slashed and her muzzle taped shut. “And yet she’s the sweetest dog in the world,” he said.​In December, when Michelson was honored by B’nai B’rith International with its distinguished achievement award, he did not speak about himself, but rather lauded the people who run his foundations and showed a videotape his wife had made to celebrate their son’s second birthday. The Michelsons have three children, ages 1 to 6, and live in a home that appears modest by billionaires’ standards. He also still drives a 2000 Chrysler. “People ask, ‘Why don’t you have a Ferrari?’ ” he said. “But I don’t need that. There are people who need to be ‘big’ in the world, or grandiose, and then there are people who don’t. And getting money doesn’t change who you are. You are still whoever you were at the beginning.”

The popular Spanish-language television show Camara Testigo on Teledoce ran a special on the anti-Semitic murder of Uruguayan-Jewish community leader David Fremd. Director of Latin America Affairs Eduardo Kohn appears throughout the program and is the only Jewish voice among those interviewed. Watch the full program below!

JBS News Update covered the appointment of the UN Human Rights Council’s new special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories Michael Lynk and included B'nai B'rith International’s response to another anti-Israel selection for the position.

JBS quoted a B’nai B’rith statement saying, “This position again shows the institutionalization of bigotry at the United Nations.”
​Click below to WATCH the video (Starting at the 3:17 mark)

The New Jersey Jewish News ran an article on the B'nai B'rith Young Leadership Network visit to Japan as a part of the Kakehashi Project.​B'nai B'rith Program Associate Danielle Ross and longtime B'nai B'rith supporter Adam Levoy are featured in the story, detailing the sights and lessons from a week spent immersed in another culture.

A recent visit to Japan that afforded 13 young American-Jewish activists the chance to see the country in its authenticity and meet members of its Jewish community was, according to Danielle Ross, “a great success.”

As guests of the government on a visit from March 1 to 8, the group was part of its Kakehashi Project, whose aim is “to further develop the relationship between American Jews and Japan,” said Ross of Springfield, a program associate at B’nai B’rith International in New York. Ross and Adam Levoy of Montclair, a language arts teacher at River Dell Middle School in River Edge and a fellow member of B’nai B’rith, were the only two New Jerseyans on the trip.

Mark Ross, also of Springfield, has been involved with the organization since his teenage years as a member of the Westfield chapter of Aleph Zadik Aleph, the high school boys’ division of B’nai B’rith.

He is currently a member of the B’nai B’rith International executive committee and president of the B’nai B’rith Tri-State Region, which spans northern New Jersey, southern New York, and northeastern Pennsylvania.

His daughter is also an associate at Ross’ Shalom Chapels, which is owned and operated in Springfield, Whippany, and Chatham by Mark and his wife, Robin.

According to its website, the Kakehashi Project aims “to promote deeper mutual understanding among the people of Japan and the United States…and help young people develop wider perspectives to encourage active roles at the global level in the future.”

But for the March group — eight representatives of B’nai B’rith International’s Young Leadership Network and five of the predominantly Jewish Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity — the invitation “had a lot to do with the burgeoning relationship between Israel and Japan, as well as between Japan and the United States,” said Danielle Ross. “They wanted us to learn more about Japan.”

Japan has an estimated 2,000 Jews out of a total population of 126 million. Among the highlights of the trip was a visit to the Jewish Community Center in Tokyo.

“It has about 100 member families and it seemed based on the Conservative model, similar to Conservative shuls here, with a sanctuary, a social hall, and places for children to play,” she told NJ Jewish News in a March 11 phone interview.

“Some of the JCC members are intermarried with Japanese people and some have had conversion ceremonies. Some of the non-native Japanese were former American military personnel. Others moved to Japan for business reasons,” Ross added.

“The sanctuary was beautiful,” said Levoy in a March 14 phone interview. “We were told that Israelis who have moved to Japan are a lot more vocal and observant, whereas the Jews at the JCC are more laid back and are there for the cultural aspects.”

The delegation had no contact with the Makuya movement, a small Japanese-Christian sect founded in May 1948 at the same time Israel declared its independence. That group’s pro-Zionism is based on the belief that Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecies.

When the Kakehashi group met with a past president of the JCC, “he told us the Jews in Japan are basically like everybody else,” said Ross. “They work, sometimes they go to shul on weekends or when there is a special event. They have a seder on Passover.

“But they are very much a part of the Japanese culture, and they have embraced parts of Japanese culture that are similar to Jewish culture, such as the importance of family,” Ross said.

After the visit to Tokyo, the visitors, who ranged in age from 21 to 35, traveled to the city of Nikko, “where we visited a lot of famous shrines,” Ross said. Then they broke into small groups and spent two nights in the homes of Japanese families in the rice farming village of Ohtawara.

“We got a real sense of traditional Japanese culture, and it was a chance for the Japanese to learn about our Jewish culture. Some of the families had a grasp on English. Others did not speak English at all,” said Ross.But wherever the Americans went, she said, they felt welcome.

“When we went to people’s homes they did not stop feeding us. They were like Jewish mothers,” she joked, noting that their hosts were “very understanding” of several of their Jewish visitors’ dietary restrictions and served vegetarian meals. They also respected the wishes of two of their guests not to travel on Shabbat.

Issues surrounding the history of United States-Japanese relations, including Japan’s 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the American atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, “did come up a little,” said Ross. “We here talk a lot more about World War II than they do. But it did come up a couple of times. We learned that Japan did not expel its Jews during the war and did not have an issue with the Jews and the Jewish community.

“There is not a whole lot of anti-Semitism in Japan, but occasionally it pops up,” she added. “I think that is because they are very accepting of [different] religions in Japan.”

Both Ross and Levoy said they would like to return.

“It was amazing,” he said. “Everyone got to experience Japan in its authenticity, not as a tourist but as a person experiencing a culture. It was very peaceful and clean. The people were very hospitable.”​“I would go back again,” said Ross. “We only got a taste of Japan, but it was a great success.”

Director of B’nai B’rith Latin America Affairs Eduardo Kohn gave an extended interview to El Observador TV in Uruguay, discussing the anti-Semitic murder of 54-year-old David Fremd, an outstanding leader in the Jewish community, in Paysandu, Uruguay.

Kohn also discussed the increasing anti-Semitism and incitement to violence against Jews in Latin America and around the world.

LISTEN: Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin made an appearance on the radio show Israeli Connection, discussing B'nai B'rith International’s recent venture to the United Nations Human Rights Council to defend Israel against the unfair attacks listed under Item 7.

B'nai B'rith International's Action Alert received coverage in the European Jewish Press as we called on our members and supporters to urge the European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to unambiguously condemn Palestinian terror.

A Jewish group called on the European Union to condemn the wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks in Israel which continued this week with violent assaults in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Petah Tikvah.

​In Jaffa, a mixed Arab and Jewish city, a Palestinian man stabbed to death 29-year-old American Vanderbilt University student Taylor Force and injured 11 others.

B'nai B'rith International deplored that ‘’unfortunately the European Union's response has been disturbingly timid’’ in its reaction to the latest events.

A statement by the spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) reads : ‘’Yesterday and today terror attacks took place in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikvah and Jerusalem. The EU extends its condolences to the family of the victim and wishes a speedy recovery to those injured.

Once again, hatred and violence have taken innocent lives. Once again, we call on all parties to work together and do their utmost to immediately calm down the situation and prevent further escalation.’’

For B’nai B’rith International, the EEAS fails to condemn the Palestinian terror and even omits any mention of Israel's name.’’It rather calls "on all parties to work together and do their utmost to immediately calm down the situation," as though Palestinian attacks on Israelis are not calculated and can be halted by a handshake and a kind word.’’

In a letter to EU’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, Gary P.Saltzman, International President and Daniel Mariaschin, Executive Vice President of B’nai B’rith International stress that these murderous episodes ‘’are calculated to terrorize Israel's population and undermine the peace process,’’ noting thatPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has made this strategy clear by referring to the violence as a "justified popular uprising."

‘’The democratic world must not tolerate or turn a blind eye to this terrorist assault on the Middle East's only democracy, Israel.Failure to condemn terrorism only invites more violence and harms the cause of peace,’’ reads the letter.

The group urged Mogherini ‘’to unequivocally condemn these unconscionable terrorist attacks on Israelis. Make clear to Palestinians that they cannot achieve peace until they abandon their systematic campaign of terror against the Israeli population.’’

The Algemeiner wrote a piece on B'nai B'rith International speaking out against the blatant anti-Semitism that appeared at a rally in Greece.​“We hope that the people in leadership positions, the political leaders, the media figures, media outlets and so forth will roundly condemn this vile expression of anti-Semitism," Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin told the publication.

A major international Jewish organization on Friday denounced a recent rally in Thessaloniki, Greece that featured signs and literature promoting antisemitic stereotypes of Jews.

“It was a particularly vile antisemitic demonstration,” Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, told The Algemeiner. “The fact that it happened in a city that is so important in Jewish history and whose population suffered – more than 90 percent killed during the Shoah – makes the demonstration even that much more outrageous.”

The demonstration was aimed at protesting new electronic citizen cards in Greece, according to the Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism. Members of the Greek Orthodox organization Agios Vasileios initiated the protest against “instruments of Antichrist and the New World Order” and were seen holding religious banners, along with Greek and Byzantine flags. One of the banners said, “No to the citizen card. There is only one enemy: International Zionism.”

Among the literature available for purchase at the demonstration was one booklet titled “The Jewish-Zionist vampire Soros is thirsty for Greek blood.” Protesters also shouted slogans against “Jewish” Mayor of Thessaloniki, Yiannis Boutaris.

Mariaschin told The Algemeiner the attacks on the mayor were “an outrage.” He said Boutaris, who has visited Israel a couple of times, has worked hard to build better relations between Greeks and Jews.

“We hope that the people in leadership positions, the political leaders, the media figures, media outlets and so forth will roundly condemn this vile expression of antisemitism,” Mariaschin said.

Nearly a thousand people attended the protest, which was held at the end of February, according to Greek journalist Sofia Christoforidou. She added that one of the speakers at the event, a man named Abbot Methodios, suggested that Christians are enslaved by Jews and claimed that Jews “were cannibals, when the Greeks were building Parthenons.” Christoforidou said the audience applauded his antisemitic rant.​Methodios threatened the Jews with a “Greek Hitler” at a similar rally held a few weeks earlier in Athens.

B'nai B'rith International’s World Center – Jerusalem Director Alan Schneider was quoted in The Jerusalem Post on an Israeli Jew being indicted for incitement on Facebook.

“B’nai B’rith has long been concerned about incitement on social media and the Web, and it is high time that those who threaten the tolerance and pluralism that typifies Israel will be punished for overstepping the law,” Schneider said.​​Click here to read the story on JPost.com

The Northern District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday filed a rare indictment against a Jew for incitement on Facebook against Arabs.

Over the last year, an increasing number of Israeli Arabs have been indicted for incitement on Facebook against Jews, but Meir Borenstein, 26, of Nazareth is among the first to be charged with racist incitement and incitement to violence on Facebook from the Jewish side of the spectrum (though there has been at least one other recent case).

The idea of indicting persons for incitement merely based on postings from Facebook took some time for acceptance by the legal establishment due to concerns that it might go too far in infringing on free speech and could turn into a politicized witch-hunt.

However, the increase in violence over the last half year and the many attackers who have confessed that they were inspired to undertake attack by Facebook posts turned the tide.

Borenstein was indicted in the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court for posts in 2013 and 2014 in which he called on all Jews to “break everything of theirs, their cars, their iPhones, their teeth... let’s start our own intifada,” and to kidnap Arabs.

Alan M. Schneider, director of the B’nai B’rith World Center, said his organization is “fully in favor of everyone – Jew and Arab – being equal before the law. Let all those inciters be aware that they will not go unpunished for fomenting hate and promoting violence. This can only lead to a safer society.”

He added, “B’nai B’rith has long been concerned about incitement on social media and the Web, and it is high time that those who threaten the tolerance and pluralism that typifies Israel will be punished for overstepping the law.”

Sam Sokol contributed to this story.The Northern District Attorney’s Office on Wednesday filed a rare indictment against a Jew for incitement on Facebook against Arabs.

Over the last year, an increasing number of Israeli Arabs have been indicted for incitement on Facebook against Jews, but Meir Borenstein, 26, of Nazareth is among the first to be charged with racist incitement and incitement to violence on Facebook from the Jewish side of the spectrum (though there has been at least one other recent case).

The idea of indicting persons for incitement merely based on postings from Facebook took some time for acceptance by the legal establishment due to concerns that it might go too far in infringing on free speech and could turn into a politicized witch-hunt.

However, the increase in violence over the last half year and the many attackers who have confessed that they were inspired to undertake attack by Facebook posts turned the tide.

Borenstein was indicted in the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court for posts in 2013 and 2014 in which he called on all Jews to “break everything of theirs, their cars, their iPhones, their teeth... let’s start our own intifada,” and to kidnap Arabs.

Alan M. Schneider, director of the B’nai B’rith World Center, said his organization is “fully in favor of everyone – Jew and Arab – being equal before the law. Let all those inciters be aware that they will not go unpunished for fomenting hate and promoting violence. This can only lead to a safer society.”

He added, “B’nai B’rith has long been concerned about incitement on social media and the Web, and it is high time that those who threaten the tolerance and pluralism that typifies Israel will be punished for overstepping the law.”